About halfway through my pregnancy, I was already researching
and starting to make a list of all the things I would need to bring with me to
the hospital. I read blogs and watched videos of so many other mom’s hospital
bag checklists and there was so many things I came across that seemed pointless
to me: like house slippers, bath robe, makeup, 3 separate hospital bags for
mommy, baby, and daddy, hairdryer, curling iron, lotion, socks, shoes, a bunch of
different pairs of clothes, and so on. Of course I am not making fun of or
arguing with how other mother’s decide to do things. This is their own, unique,
experience and they should pack what makes them most comfortable. But for me
personally, I kept in mind that I wouldn’t even be at the hospital for more
than a day or two and, as a minimalist, I wanted to pack lightly with
everything in one bag and bring only the absolute necessities. I chose to bring
what seemed the most practical to me and the things I thought I would actually
be needing and using for my stay. But of course, even I ended up bringing more
than I should have and used less than half of it. In today’s post, I am going
to be sharing with you everything I packed in my hospital bag, indicating what
I used and what I ended up not using.
WHAT’S
IN MY HOSPITAL BAG - EVERYTHING I USED
HEALTHY
SNACKS
As a vegan, this was important for me since there were
only fruit cups and fries at our hospital cafeteria and junk food in the
vending machines. In my bag, I packed things like nuts, juice, raisins, grapes,
strawberries, raspberries, and kale chips. My boyfriend would also go out and
pick up extra produce and would bring meals from restaurants as needed.
LOOSE
CHANGE OF CLOTHES
I wanted to bring a loose change of clothes so it
would be easy access if they needed to hook me up to the monitor or take my
blood pressure or anything of the sort. Also wearing tight clothes after giving
birth would have been uncomfortable.
CELL
PHONE AND CHARGER
Having a phone on hand was a must so I could keep in
touch with family and friends and we also used it to play soft music at night when
we went to bed.
CAMERA
AND CHARGER
Having a camera was also a must to capture moments and
take never-ending pictures of our little one.
WALLET
WITH ID AND INSURANCE CARD
A wallet with everything in it is always handy to
bring with you everywhere you go. You may need to present your driver’s license
and insurance card to the hospital staff. I also needed my insurance card so I
could use the number on the back to call the insurance company to add my
daughter to my insurance.
BABY
BOOK
To pass the time, I filled out my daughter’s baby book
when she was sleeping. In her baby book, there is a section all about her
birth: name, date of birth, place of birth, time of birth, hair color, eye
color, weight, length, etc. There is also a section for her hand and feet
prints.
TWO
GOING HOME OUTFITS FOR BABY
You never know what size your baby will be at birth,
so having two or more outfit options is a good idea incase one is too big or
too small. I brought a newborn and a 0-3 month size outfit. Then again, our
daughter was a preemie size, coming out at 6lbs 6.1oz, so what we brought was still
too big for her anyway. We ended up going for the smallest option, the newborn
outfit, which was special because it was my going-home outfit as a baby.
EVERYTHING I DID NOT USE
SHAMPOO,
CONDITIONER, AND A LOOFAH
Birth is a messy process, so I thought one of the
first things I would want to do was take a shower. Boy was I wrong. With how
heavy I was bleeding and still getting blood on the bed, trying to breastfeed,
etc, a shower was the last thing on my mind. I knew if I took a shower I would
still end up feeling gross. I ended up just taking a shower once I got home. We
were only at the hospital for a day anyway.
LONG,
THICK PADS
I brought so many of these knowing I was going to be
bleeding postpartum. However, the staff provided them for me so I ended up
using theirs rather than my own.
MATERNITY
UNDERWEAR
This was a must for me. I didn’t want to get my pretty
Victoria’s Secret underwear all dirty and messed up so I chose to keep those
looking nice and brought a few pairs of my maternity underwear. Yet, I still
did not use my maternity underwear because the hospital staff kept some disposable
mesh underwear for me in the bathroom. So again, I used theirs rather than my
own.
NURSING
PADS AND NIPPLE CREAM
Knowing I wanted to breastfeed, I thought these were a
must. However, we couldn’t get my daughter to latch on the entire time we were
there, leaving no reason to put on nipple cream as they were never cracked. As
for the nursing pads, since we could never get my daughter to latch on, my
breasts were never stimulated and not enough milk was produced for them to even
leak. I ended up not using either one of these.
BABY RATTLE TOY
I thought at least one baby toy would be a good idea to
bring. I thought she might like looking at or cuddling with one of her stuffed
giraffe rattles, but of course, she took no interest. A toy is really of no use
to bring as they will be sleeping most of the time and a few hour old baby is
not going to care or know what to do with such a thing.
DIAPERS
AND WIPES
Yes, diapers and wipes are important but, again, these
were also items that our hospital staff provided for us inside the drawers of
the table my daughter slept on.
BABY
BLANKET
My daughter was born in the middle of winter, so I thought
she might get cold. However, she was kept warm from the person’s body heat of
whoever was holding her and from her being swaddled. The only time we used her
blanket was when we were going home. We draped it over her in the car seat. We
could have saved space in my bag if we just left the blanket in the car.
So that is it for my hospital bag list of everything I brought and didn’t use! I would have used most everything in my bag, like diapers, wipes, pads, etc. The only reason why I didn’t was because I would rather use theirs first rather than my own. A tip for you is to check with your birthing center and ask them what all they will be providing for you during your stay so you know what needs to be packed or not. If I had done this, I could have used a smaller bag, like a purse, rather than my travel carry-on suitcase. I hope you enjoyed this post and don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel where I also posted a video version of this topic. I am assuming those of you who are reading this are most likely women nearing the end of their pregnancies trying to get an idea of what to pack in their hospital bags. If you are one of those women, I wish you the best of luck, a smooth delivery, a healthy baby, and an overall wonderful birthing experience. Giving birth is so euphoric!
